Department of Chemistry, UCPH - Kemisk Institut, Københavns Universitet

Why not join us in today's CHEM Talks about High Entropy Alloys with Post Doc Nicolas Schlegel?

It is with profound sadness that the Department of Chemistry, University of Copenhagen announces the passing of Prof. Emerita Sine Larsen at the start of 2025. Sine received her degree in 1968 at this very Department and remained active until her passing. Throughout her career, she attracted numerous students and served as an important role model for female chemistry students in the department. She was the first woman to be awarded a full professorship at the Department of Chemistry at the University of Copenhagen. In recognition of her remarkable achievements, the university has dedicated one of the new gardens in the Niels Bohr Building in her honor. Her passing is a profound loss to the scientific community at large. She will be sorely missed by her colleagues and friends here at the Department. Our thoughts and heartfelt condolences are with her family and loved ones during this difficult time. Sine Larsen was born on May 28, 1943, in Copenhagen. Sine studied chemistry at the University of Copenhagen, receiving her degree in 1968. In 1970, she moved to Boston for a postdoctoral position at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where she worked on the structure of a staphylococcal nuclease. She later became the first female professor at the Department of Chemistry at the Københavns Universitet - University of Copenhagen, specializing in structural chemistry and structural biology. Throughout her career, she attracted many students and was deeply engaged with them, serving as an inspiring role model for female students and young researchers. From 1993 to 2004, she served as Director of the Centre for Crystallographic Studies, one of the first 23 Centers of Excellence of the Danish National Research Foundation. Sine’s dedication has left an indelible mark on the crystallographic scientific community. Her leadership and expertise were recognized through her service on the Executive Committee of the International Union of Crystallography (IUCr), where she held the positions of General Secretary and Treasurer from 1996 to 2005, and later served as President and Past President from 2008 to 2014. Her impact extended beyond the IUCr, as she also served as Director of Research for Life Sciences at the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility in Grenoble from 2003 to 2009, and as Director of the MAX IV Laboratory in Sweden from 2011 to 2012. In 2004, Lund University in Sweden awarded Sine an honorary doctorate degree. In 2018, she received the Max Perutz Prize from the European Association of Crystallography for her multifaceted contributions to crystallography, including crystal structure analyses of organic molecules and proteins, charge density studies, and the development of synchrotron radiation facilities. She will be remembered fondly by all who knew her, and her legacy will continue to inspire future generations. Image: Credits to Rigmor Mydtskov

Department of Chemistry, UCPH - Kemisk Institut, Københavns Universitet congratulates Sara López Paz, Assistant Professor - Tenure Track, and Olga Garmash, Assistant Professor - Tenure Track receiving grants from the Inge Lehmann program.     Sara Almudena Lopez Paz received 3.166.819 kr for the project: “Engineering dimensionality in quantum magnets by chemical design”. Olga Gamarsh received 3.167.126 kr for the project: “Temperature-dependent production of highly oxygenated radicals and accretion products may significantly affect aerosol formation over the Boreal forest”. The Independent Research Fund Denmark has just awarded a little more than 85 million kroner to some of the most talented researchers at the early stages of their careers. The funds are granted under the Inge Lehmann program, a talent program aimed at supporting a more equal gender balance in research environments. With a grant from the Inge Lehmann program, 28 researchers will have the opportunity to explore their own original ideas while simultaneously enhancing their career prospects in the research field. Regarding the Inge Lehmann program, Minister for Higher Education and Science Christina Egelund says: "More women are entering the research world than before, but we are far from the finish line. That is why I am very pleased that, through the Inge Lehmann program, we are giving more female researchers the opportunity to pursue their own ideas and build a career in research. Hopefully, this can pave the way for better gender balance in Danish research, benefiting both individual talents and the quality and diversity of Danish research." The research projects span a wide range of scientific disciplines and have been assessed by the five academic councils. For example, research will include how technology companies influence the development of digital societies and the reasons why people with severe psychiatric disorders live 15-20 years shorter than the average.

Our next CHEM Talks are 10/1-25 with PostDoc Nicolas Schlegel.

Why not join us for today's CHEM Talk with Professor Stergios Piligkos about “Lanthanide Coordination Complexes for Quantum Technologies” .

Join us for Stergios Piligkos CHEM Talk if you want to learn something about “Lanthanide Coordination Complexes for Quantum Technologies”

First time Danish university team wins this competition and it is our team from Department of Chemistry, University of Copenhagen! Now the team Margarita Poderytė Iciar de la Fuente Galiano is heading to China to pitch our idea for carbon capture! Good luck and looking forward to hearing more good news! 😃

NIELS BOHR BYGNINGEN FEJRET MED RECEPTION OG ROYALT BESØG Den røde snor blev tirsdag klippet af H.M. Kong Frederik 10., der officielt indviede Niels Bohr Bygningen på Københavns Universitet - og som tak fik blomsterfrø fra Landbohøjskolen af den modige 6-årige Manfred 😊 Rektor Henrik Caspar Wegener glæder sig over de mange potentialer, som bygningen skaber for fremtiden: ”Det har ikke været en snorlige vej hertil. Men jeg er glad for, at vi nu kan fejre en bygning, der med sin åbenhed, forskningsfaciliteter og forskere og studerende på tværs af fag indeholder potentialet til at huse fremtidens nobelprismodtagere og blive et samlingspunkt for verdens dygtigste forskere." Inden for glasvæggene er der blandt andet næsten 200 laboratorier, der fx skal bruges til at bygge kvantechips, en iskernefryser, læsepladser, åbne gårdhaver og på taget et taglaboratorium til undersøgelser af atmosfæren. På underholdningssiden blev universitetskoret Lille MUKO flankeret af forsker ved Biologisk Institut og forsanger i Magtens Korridorer Johan Olsen, mens kemistuderende fremviste eksperimenter til gæsterne. Bygningen på Jagtvej er opkaldt efter Niels Bohr, atomfysiker og Nobelprismodtager, der også stiftede Københavns Universitets Institut for Teoretisk Fysik - senere Niels Bohr Institutet. Instituttet skal bo i bygningen sammen med Institut for Naturvidenskabernes Didaktik og Kemisk Institut.

Congratulations to Junsheng (Jason) Chen who started as an associate professor on September 15, 2024. at Department of Chemistry, UCPH - Kemisk Institut, Københavns Universitet   Junsheng holds an MSc from Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics and a PhD in chemistry from Lund University and Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Sweden. Junsheng Chen is conducting research in ultrafast time-resolved optical spectroscopies to explore the functions and underlying photophysical processes of fluorescent molecules, semiconductor nanomaterials, solar cell materials, and strong light-matter interactions. Furthermore, he is developing biocompatible organic fluorescent nanomaterials for bioimaging and hybrid metal-halide materials for optoelectronic applications. Junsheng is part of the NanoChemistry Section and is presently collaborating with Professor Bo Wegge Laursen and Professor Tom Vosch on fluorescent materials and ultrafast spectroscopy.   Junsheng is doing some of his measurements abroad, in Lund and Prague but is also developing femtosecond transient absorption methods here at the Department.

Congratulations to David Baker, Demis Hassabis, and John M. Jumper on being awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2024 for their groundbreaking scientific work on proteins. David Baker has succeeded with the almost impossible feat of building entirely new kinds of proteins. Demis Hassabis and John Jumper have developed an AI model to solve a 50-year-old problem: predicting proteins’ complex structures. These discoveries hold enormous potential and benefit for humankind.